Workers in Stoughton said they watched the tornado pick recreational vehicles five feet off the ground during a thunderstorm on Thursday afternoon.

Several travel trailers, each weighing more than three tons, were tossed five to 10 feet.

A homeowner on Erica Drive, a few hundred yards away, discovered a wheel cover from one of the dealership RVs on his lawn.

"I heard this, I was actually in my office here, and I heard all this commotion and everything was banging so I ran outside," said Rick Hume of Cyn Environmental.

Hume watched it hit Bay State Ford across the street, and another one of his cameras caught a bunch trailers get tossed around.

"It was pretty scary here for a few minutes," Hume said.

"The three trailers in the corner were actually four to five feet off the ground and they were smacking each other," George Coffey of Bay State Ford.

"Next thing you know we sitting there, roof top lifts and bang! Lifts again and boom! We all ran out," said Shawn Weir.

At the dealership service shop, a huge garage door ripped was off its rails.

"It ripped off the back bay door," said Michael Lupacchino of Bay State Ford. "You could see the bolts lying right on the floor."

"It was a little scary -- the thuds the bangs," Weir said.

"You see it on TV, you see things like that. But to actually see it in person and be there -- it's a totally different story. It's incredible," Hume said.

The National Weather Service says the tornado formed in an environment that was conducive to producing what are known as 'cold air funnels.' "These are common when there is a combination of a low pressure system and unseasonably cold air aloft," the NWS said, adding that most do not touch down.

The Stoughton tornado is the first confirmed tornado in Norfolk County since the Wrentham EF1 tornado on August 21, 2004.